The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera is one of the instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Recently this camera captured an avalanche on Mars. The white portion of the image is carbon dioxide (dry ice). The cliff there is 2,000 ft high. The plume of dust itself is probably 150 feet high. I have trimmed down the original image which you can find here.
Looking at all of the individual instances of avalanches from all of the images will also allow us to piece together a sequence of snaphots of the whole avalanche process, from beginning (a stream of material falling down the cliff face) to end (lingering puffy clouds). Based on this year’s observations, these events happen mostly in the middle of spring, roughly equivalent to April to early May on Earth. And, they are indeed more widespread than just this one scarp. All together, it seems this is a regular spring process at Mars’ north pole that may be expected every year – avalanche season! This information, in conjunction with the results of numerical modeling of the behavior of the materials involved, will help us find out what is causing these dramatic events.
via : Avalanche Clouds
